When Prince George bus driver Andy Szabo saw a woman violently shaking a man as he was pulling up to a stop alongside the Spruceland Mall one late night in March, he didn't think twice about what to do next.
Worried he might scare the two away, he put the brakes on short of the stop and jumped out to investigate. "I asked her what was going on, and she said 'he's not breathing,'" Szabo said in an interview this week.
He quickly hopped back into the bus and radioed a supervisor to call 911. Just as quickly he was back out, and with the help of the woman, rolled the unconscious man off the shelter's bench and onto the sidewalk and began performing chest compressions - a technique Szabo learned while taking first aid some years ago to "jump start" a heart that has stopped beating.
The idea is to keep blood flowing to the brain in the hope the person will revive. It doesn't always work, as Szabo knew only too well, having failed years ago to bring back to life a man who had drowned. Indeed, the odds of it working out for someone whose heart has stopped are just one in 20.
But that didn't stop Szabo from trying and this time it worked out. Suddenly the man let out a massive gasp.
"That's what I heard," Szabo said. "It was a special overwhelming feeling that I got his heart going because once he starts breathing, that means his heart is pumping."
Szabo also quizzed the woman and, after gaining her trust, learned they had been shooting heroin when he went under. In another instance of good fortune, a passerby also happened to be carrying a Narcan kit, used to resuscitate someone who has overdosed on fentanyl, an even more dangerous opioid often mixed into heroin.
By the time paramedics had arrived, the man was sitting up and was able to stand up and walk away on his own. Two weeks later, Szabo saw the man around town.
Szabo said the whole event felt like it last just a matter of seconds but figured it took about 10 minutes based on the time it took for emergency personnel to arrive.
Passengers on his bus, the 88 Hart-Spruceland, meanwhile, had been transferred to another bus to complete the route.
Szabo's then-manager Dave Wilkins was so impressed with Szabo's actions that he sent word on to BC Transit and this week, Szabo was among six employees to be named a BC Transit Superstar for making a difference to their communities over the past year.
Szabo said there is a lesson to be learned from the episode. "In my opinion, people should take their time and look out for everyone and don't make judgments," he said in reference to the man suffering an overdose.
